Iphone 6s Plus Overnight Battery Drain

Sudden Battery drain, not iOS 9.2, solved

SunnySalkar wrote:

I have an iPhone 6s Plus and I am facing an unusual battery issue. Since updating to iOS 9.2 i am experiencing over 25% - 30 % battery drain overnight within a span pan of approximately 7 hours. Why I call this problem unusual is because this issue occurs only at my home. When i first started facing this problem I thought it might be some app or setting that changed. I was visiting family in California and for the 7 days I was there this problem was non existent and started again as soon as I came back home. I get 4-5 bars at home and no network issues. I check battery usage and the top of the list is Mail with 8min background activity.

Since then I have performed the following actions 1. Performed a hard reboot 2. Wiped the phone and reset again. 3. reset the network setting. 4. Turned off all system location services (except find my iphone). 5. By background app refresh is always off. 6. Some apps use location services while using apps (none of the apps are always on). 7. Kept wifi off at night 8. Kept wifi on at night. 9. Mail set to Push 10. Mail set to Fetch.

I have about 15 apps installed that did not come as stock and no games. I haven't installed any new apps either.

I haven't visited apple store yet is because of the unusual nature of the problem that i cannot recreate anywhere but my house. Also i have lived in the same apartment for 4 years. I got the iphone launch day and problem started only after iOS 9.2 upgrade.

Can someone provide me with any valuable input for this problem?

Thanks,

Sunny

Why don't you just plug the phone in overnight? It will not hurt the phone in any way, and it has the added advantage that you can enable automatic iCloud backup and have a fresh backup at the start of every day.

There's an app that is running in background overnight. The link to my post that Razmee referenced was more to show how to troubleshoot a battery drain issue in general. For me it was calendar, but there are many other possibilities. I've also traced a similar problem to the Tile app, and, at other times, to other apps. Facebook is a very common battery consumer, for example. Microsoft Exchange email accounts will frequently consume power. The Settings/Battery view is a valuable resource in determining battery drain. Settings/Cellular is also useful, because it will show how much data each app has used. If the phone is not connected to power all data use will be cellular (which is another reason to leave the phone plugged in, as it enables WiFi when the phone is asleep).

What shows in your last 24 hours? I can appreciate your background, however charging overnight is not a workaround, but the best scenario for you. While the device is plugged in and locked, if you use iCloud it is when it completes the backup. Charging overnight will not harm the device, and gets you started in the day with a full battery. If there is a errant app as Lawrence describes, then Apple will not exchange your phone, as that is not a phone problem but a user problem. You need to try restoring the phone to factory after taking a backup of the device. Then test it without adding any additional content to it. It should correct the battery consumption. If it does, then go ahead and try restoring your backup. If it was a stuck process, as it many times it, that should have corrected it. If it is corrupt data in the backup, the problem will return. If so, then you would need to restore to factory again and then sync your data back manually, not using your backup. Believe us, after spending a great deal of time here, the problem with a stuck process or corrupt data does make sense.

I wish you luck, but coming here and saying that you have very little hops of finding an answer here is not a civil way to approach the forum.

SunnySalkar wrote:

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the input. I understand plugging in my phone is the best case scenario for me but still a work around as the core problem persists. The stuck process that might exist in my backup makes perfect sense and a full wipe is my last resort as saving my text messages is very important to me. See attached last 24 hours and 7 day battery usage. It makes no sense and on top of that this issue exists only at home.

PS. 22% battery drain last night over a period of 7 hours and sleep mode enabled.

No disrespect intended by my comments. I had already eliminated several possible reasons and Apple provides limited opportunities to tinker with their devices (Offical Way).

I appreciate your help.

Thanks,

Well, your numbers are not that bad, considering. In the graphic you posted, is that the signal that you get at home, or was that somewhere else? While that is not the lowest signal you can have, the device will work harder with a lower signal strength and cause battery loss. At what percentage was the battery at when you went to bed, that you stated a 22% loss in 7 hours? I'm not sure what you are referring to as "sleep mode". Does this mean that you have Do Not Disturb activated, or do you have Airplane mode activated? Have you tested turning Airplane mode on for a short period of time to see what happens? Do you have cellular data turned on for all of your applications? Not exactly sure what you want to describe as "tinkering", but I'm guessing that you have not done anything that Apple does not approve of. Overall on my devices, I have gotten better battery life as I have gotten the newer devices and iOS 9.x. I have found that despite heavy usage lately, I've not exceeded 2% battery per hour reduction in percentage. 22% over 7 hours would equate to a little over 3%, but that is a lot for just standby.

Looking back at your OP, keeping Wi-Fi on at night won't make any difference as Lawrence also told you, since it will go into sleep mode if not being used. If you make a current backup of your device, you can take the time to restore the device to factory and test, and then restore the device to your backup, so you would not lose your text message history. Restoring to factory may release whatever the errant process could be. Restore to factory, test for a short period of time. If it seems normal, then restore your backup. If the problem returns, then there is something corrupt in your backup. Your best choice at that time would be to restore to factory again and then sync your content back individually without using the backup. While you would lose the text message history, your device would be working properly. You can get 3rd party software you can save your text message history to the computer, you just cannot put it back on the device.